Eldercrest Nursing Center

My dad was recently diagnosed with Alzheimers Diseaseand the psychiatrist who visited him in this nursing home couldn't believe how quickly he regressed while there. He was there less than two weeks for physical therapy but languished in bed all day most of the time so he really went down hill mentally-becoming catatonic. He fell out of his wheelchair four times and staff is not allowed to use a seatbelt, but he wasn't watched. Staff admitted they were not equipped for his level of care. He is blind and needed fed, but uneaten trays of food were left in front of him. On his last day, I spent the day there and after six hours sitting in his wheelchair, I asked if they could change him and wash him. (He had a crumb on his nose I noticed). He said he felt sticky. Ten minutes later, he was back in the chair with the same crumb on the end of his nose and smear on the side of his face. I guess the woman I heard complaining earlier that she hadn't been washed in two weeks wasn't kidding. A month later, at home, he is using the bathroom, having meaningful conversations and is able to eat unassisted. Had he remained at Eldercrest, it would have been a death sentence--and this is not an exaggeration by any stretch.